PRESS RELEASE ON THE FACT FINDING REPORT OF THE CHINTALNAR MASSACRE, 11 TO 16 MARCH 2011, CHHATTISGARH

Posted by ajadhind on April 4, 2011

A 13 member fact finding team of Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisations visited the
Chintalnar Area of Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh to probe into the incidents of atrocities
perpetrated by the Salwa Judum and the state forces on the adivasis living in this area between 11th
and 16th of March 2011.
The incidents was propagated by the police as an ‘encounter’ between the CRPF and Maoists in
which, according to the police, 36 Maoists were killed. Also 3 SPOs were killed and 9 others were
injured. The police had celebrated this incident in the media to prove their dominance over the
Maoists in this region. Media persons and fact finding teams were restricted from going inside on
the pretext that it is ‘war zone’ and the so-called war between the state and the Maoists are still going
on, hence it is risky for any outsider to go inside. Most recently, the state home minister, Nankiran
Kumar gave a written statement in the assembly stating that the Maoists had led the attack on
villagers and burnt and looted homes in a bid to divert attention of the police who were in the area for
‘area domination exercises’.
Against this backdrop of serious crimes committed by the security forces and salwa judum and the
cover up by the police and politicians, a fact finding team comprising various civil and democratic
rights activists and other individuals, went inside this area on the 26th and 27th of March 2011 and
visited Morupally, Timmapuram and Tadmetla villages. As members of the team, we spoke extensively
to the villagers and the victims of the incident. We were shocked to find that once again, the police
version propagated by the state is completely hoax and far from reality.
What exactly happened?
Morupally village
According to the residents, on the morning of 11 March 2011, a huge contingent of 300 paramilitary
and Salwa Judum forces attacked Morupally Village in the Chintalnar area after they got a prior
information that a big meeting of adivasis will be held there. While people started running towards
the forest for cover, the Judum forces, dressed in military fatigues, entered the village and started
attacking the elderly and women.
1. Death: Madvi Sula, an elderly villager was picking tamarind from the tree when the Judum
forces accosted him, accused him of being a Maoist informer and shot him dead in front of his wife
and hanged from a tree.
Woman raped by Salwa Judum (Koya commandos) 80 years old Madivi Bheema beaten by Salwa Judum
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2. Rape: Mangi Ganga was raped after her valuables and other belongings were looted from her
house. Emula Modey, a 35 year old woman, was raped after she was threatened for not disclosing
the location of the Andhra Maoist Dalam. The Judum members also took away 10,000 rupees
from her.
3. Assault and Arrest: Madivi Bheem, an 80 year old woman, was brutally assaulted. Her belongings
were also looted. While leaving the village, Judum members picked up Madvi Joga, his daughter,
Likke and his son Madvi Bheema and took them to Chintalnal PS. There, Likke was separated
from her brother and father, stripped and kept the whole night. The following morning when she
was handed over to her father, her clothes were not returned.
4. Burning of homes: 33 houses were burnt, looted and destroyed.
5. Identification of Accused: Villagers identified 9 members/leaders of Salwa Judum. They are:
Madakam Bheema, alias Ramesh from Junaguda; Telam Anda from Lakapole; Vanjam Deva
from Cherpan; Dasaru from Vilampalli; Ramulal from Bodikel; Maara from Morupally; Keche
Nanda from Korapad; Kartam Dula, alias Surya (Judum leader) from Misman; Payake, woman
Judum member from Timmapuram.
Timmapuram Village
Encounter between Salwa Judum and Maoist forcesTwo days later, on 13th March, the forces
advanced towards Timmapuram after ravaging Morapally village.
On the way, the next day Maoists came and tried to stop them. In the armed clash, that lasted for two
hours, one villager Bhima alias Sudarshan was killed while two other got injured. 3 SPOs were killed
while 9 others got injuries, of which one died later.
Killing of Bursey Bhima and burning of homes: The CRPF and Salwa Judum SPOs were
forced to retreat after the prolonged encounter. They came to Timmapuram village and took shelter
there. They made bunkers inside the village to quell probable Maoist attack. Before leaving the
village they set fire on 55 houses. Bursey Bhima was picked up by these forces from Pulampad
village on their way to Timmapuram. After setting the villages on fire, they hacked Bursey Bhima to
death with an axe. This is probably due to the fact that Bhima was an eye-witness of their entire
carnage.
Identification of Accused: People of Timmapuram have identified several Salwa Judum members
who led this carnage. They saw, Mantam Bhima alias Ramesh (from Jannaguda Village), Telem
Anda (of Lekapor Village), Wanjan Peva ( of Charpan Village), Dasaru (from Villampally Village),
Mara (of Monipally Village), Ramlal (of Bodikal Village), Keche Nanda (of Korapad), Kartam Dula
alias Surya (of Misman Village), an SPO and one woman SPO Payake from Timmapuram itself.
Houses Burnt in Timmapuram Village Villagers living in fear and withuot Shelter
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Tadmetla Village
From Timmapuram on their way back, they entered Tadmetla village and it became their next
target. In Tadmetla, they burnt a total of 207 houses. These houses were simply gutted to ashes.
They raped Marvi Jogi and beat her till she lost consciousness. When she came back to senses, she
found her cash and jewellery worth Rs. 12,000 missing. Around 20-25 other people in Tadmetla were
beaten up including children as young as 12 years old. Marvi Anda and Marvi Ayita of this village
were picked up by police and are still missing. They have not been produced even in police station.
We spoke to the affected villagers like the rape victim from Tarmetla village Marvi Joga. No case
has still been registered against anyone and not even a medical test has been done. Two people from
Tarmetla Muchaki Anda and Muchaki Ayita have gone missing and villagers claimed they have
been taken by the forces but are yet to be produced.
A rape victim of the Village and burnt housee
This one-sided ruthless attack by the state forces and Salwa Judum on innocent unarmed adivasis
were propagated in the media by the police as ‘ongoing encounter with the Maoists’. The rampage of
the salwa judum and state forces continued for almost five days. Two people were murdered cruelly,
while 3 women were raped. Almost three hundred homes were set on fire and completely gutted
down. They looted everything the adivasi people had including domestic animals like goats, cows,
chicken and pigs along with their money, jewelleries and other belongings. More than fifty people
have been grievously injured that includes children as young as 12 years old and women. This clearly
shows that the Salwa Judum is active and functioning like always. The state’s branding of them as
‘Koya Commandos’ is bogus. Despite the Supreme Court directive to disband Salwa Judum it is fully
functional and actively promoted and sponsored by the state.
These rampages were done with full consent and active support of the state. In the middle of these
unilateral atrocities, the state air-dropped rations and other food supply to the forces while taking
away the dead and the injured. On 24th March, the SDM had visited these villages with some relief
material. But even after he directly spoke to the villagers and saw the evidences of the atrocities, no
case has been registered against anybody. Even now instead of taking action against the perpetrators
of these atrocities, the state is still stopping civil rights activists and individuals to visit the area.
People in Morupally and Timmapuram are living in utter dire condition. People in these two villages
have received no relief from the state. They said that they have got some interim relief from the
Maoists. Many of them are staying under trees. After the fact finding team left, one local newspaper
reported of six starvation deaths in Morupally village which needs to be confirmed. We have been
inside these areas for two days, only to see that there was no ‘encounter’ with the Maoists as claimed
by the police, which is nothing but a myth propagated by the state to justify these atrocities.
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The attack by the state forces and the Salwa Judum was heinous and the attack on the innocent
adivasis has been done persistently by the state and its mercenaries in the name of ‘Operation Green
Hunt’. These villages were particularly targeted as they have done alternative development works
like digging ponds, distributing lands among the landless, making irrigation facilities which the
state has failed to provide in all these decades. As we saw these areas are still the most underdeveloped
regions of the country and all that the state has done is to violate the rights of autonomy of the
adivasis, denied them of their basic means of livelihood and life and now they are perpetrating such
monstrous atrocities by Salwa Judum and paramilitary forces.
We condemn these outrageous acts of state violence and demand:
• Registering the cases of rape, murder, atrocities and kidnap against the CRPF and Salwa
Judum
• Exemplary punishment for the perpetrators of the crime.
• Immediate providing of medical facilities to the injured and medical tests of the rape victims
• Compensation of the people according to their specific losses
• Allowing more civil rights organisation and media persons to go inside the area.
• As per direction of the Supreme Court the salwa judum must be disbanded immediately and
functioning of the Salwa Judum in the name of ‘Koya Commandos’ must be stopped.
• Operation Green Hunt must be stopped immediately
Members of the fact finding team:
Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC)
C.H. Chandrashekhar,
V. Chitti Babu
R. Rajanandam
V. Raghunath
G. Ravi
K. Viplav Kumar
K. Sireesha
Centre for Protection of Civil Liberties (CPCL)
R. Murugesan
CDRO Convenor (Peoples Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR Delhi)
Ashish Gupta
Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights, Kolkata (APDR)
Prashanta Haldar
Dalit Bahujan Social Activist
U. Sambasivarao
Democratic Students Union, JNU
Banojyotsna Lahiri
Research scholar and activist, Wardha University
Chandrika,